SEND Policy
Co-op Academy Failsworth
SEND POLICY
Issue 9
Policy details
- Date created - September 2016
- Date reviewed -September 2023
- Date approved - 28/09/2023
- Next review date - October 2024
- Policy owner - Mrs C Stonehouse
Introduction
We are an inclusive academy and every child has an entitlement to the full curriculum appropriately adapted to meet their needs. We are committed to listening to learners and working in positive partnership with parents, carers and other professionals.
The Special Educational Needs Policy takes careful account of the Education Act 1996, the Code of Practice 2014, the Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001, the Equality Act 2010, the policy of the Local Education Authority and the aims of the academy as outlined in academy documentation.
As an academy we believe:
All children have skills, talents and abilities and as an academy we have a responsibility to develop these to the full.
All children are entitled to a relevant and worthwhile education designed to enable individual students to participate fully in society and to contribute to and benefit from it.
Students who have special educational needs should be supported wherever necessary to achieve full access to the whole academy curriculum. This will need to be facilitated through a range of access technologies including skilled staff, specialist equipment and resources.
Students should have special programmes designed to maximise opportunities for independent living in preparation for life after the academy, including preparation for work or continuing education.
Where necessary, students should have Access Arrangements to allow candidates/learners with special educational needs, disabilities or temporary injuries to access assessments without changing the demands of the assessment.
The academy will do its best to allow students with special educational needs to work with students who do not have special educational needs, so far as is reasonably practical and compatible with the student receiving the special educational provision and the efficient education of the students with whom they are educated. (SEN and Disability Act 2001).
The academy’s pastoral arrangements promote the inclusion of vulnerable SEND students in activities alongside their peers.
The academy recognises the importance of providing effective learning opportunities by enabling all students to access a broad, balanced and relevant curriculum.
With regard to these beliefs, the following document outlines the provision the academy endeavours to achieve.
What do we want to achieve? For all students with SEND:
- An academy where the learner is central to all that happens
- An academy where everyone feels safe and valued
- An academy that acknowledges individual unique needs
- An academy that expects the best
- An academy where differences are recognised and celebrated
- An academy that responds to an ever-changing society
How will we get there?
- by valuing everyone equally
- by fostering good relationships within the academy and within the wider community
- by breaking down barriers to learning for all
- by planning for success of all
- by showing respect and tolerance to all and for all
- by maximising the potential of all
What must we do to be the best
- provide high quality teaching and learning
- develop the staff
- provide an excellent learning environment
- offer support and guidance
- embrace challenge and make the most of opportunities
- nurture talent and ability
- engage parents / carers in the life of the academy
DEFINITION of SEND
SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities) means a student has additional needs that requires special educational provision which is additional to, or otherwise different from, the educational provision made generally for students.
Students have a SEND if they:
Have a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of students of the same age. NB. EAL students must not be regarded as having a SEND solely because the language or form of language of their home is different from the language in which they will be taught.
Have a disability that prevents or hinders them from making use of educational facilities of a kind generally provided for students of the same age in academies within the Local Authority.
THE MANAGEMENT OF SEND
The SEND Coordinator has the responsibility for the strategic vision for SEND provision and students.
The SEND Coordinator will:
- Monitor, track and review progress of all SEND students.
- Oversee the work of the academy’s Teaching Assistants (SEND support teachers).
- Quality assure the work of the TAs to ensure impact and progress are made for SEND students.
- Monitor attendance of SEND groups to ensure individual targets are met.
- Manage the budget for the SEND department, and have an overview of the funding for SEND students to ensure it is utilised to benefit this group of students.
- Ensure effective resources are provided for the SEND department
- Support teaching staff via SEND specific CPD and guidance.
- Ensure exam access arrangements are in place for SEND students.
- Co-ordinate inclusion meetings with the pastoral team.
- Oversee the role and practice of the CLA Co-ordinator to ensure CLA students are making progress in the academy.
- Make EHCP applications for and oversee Annual Reviews of all students with EHC Plans to meet LA requirements.
- Ensure the publication of the SEN Information report, and the Governors SEN report.
- Oversee the running of the provision for students with special educational needs and disabilities including general class, small group and individual student support.
- Maintain the academy’s Profile of SEN Support and all the required documentation.
- Keep records on students who have SEND and disabilities and ensure their progress is regularly monitored and reviewed.
- Liaise with teachers, parents and external agencies.
- Ensure annual reviews for students with EHCPs are completed.
- Organise meetings as appropriate with designated teachers at regular intervals in respect of special needs issues.
- Regularly review and monitor SEND provision within the Academy.
- Take part in formal meetings with external agencies regarding individual students to be assessed.
- Liaise with the pastoral team regarding students on the Profile of SEN Support.
- Liaise with class teachers/subject departments/teachers to ensure the needs of students with special educational needs are met throughout all the subjects of the curriculum.
- In line with the Academy’s professional development programme/policy provide access to in- service training to meet the needs of the Academy and individual members of staff.
- Produce yearly reports to the designated SEND Governor and an annual report for the
‘Governors’ Report to Parents’.
The Teaching Assistants will:
- Have respectful, trusting relationships with students, acting as a role model and setting high expectations.
- Promote inclusion and acceptance of all students and encourage students to interact and to work cooperatively with others and to engage in all activities.
- Support students’ personal programmes relating to social, health, physical, hygiene and welfare matters.
- Promote and develop self-esteem and encourage and guide students to act independently as appropriate.
- Gather and report information from/to parents/carers as directed.
- Liaise with the teaching staff around student problems/progress/achievements.
- Collaboratively plan lessons alongside teaching staff.
- Prepare and maintain resources to assist SEND students.
ADMISSION ARRANGEMENTS
The academy adheres to the admission policy of the Local Authority and therefore has no special provision under admission arrangements for limiting or promoting access for students with special needs who are without EHCPs. It does, however, endeavour to provide appropriate support for students with a range of special educational needs.
ACCESS ARRANGEMENTS
The academy will have a commitment to assess, apply for and administer access arrangements for all students necessary with SEN and Disabilities to ensure that they can access exams.
SEND SPECIALISMS
The academy accommodates provision for students who experience difficulties in:
- Communication and Interaction
- Cognition and Learning
- Social, Emotional and Mental Health Development
- Sensory and/or Physical
- Medical Conditions
ACCESS FOR THE DISABLED
The new facilities at the academy are barrier free so there is access for disabled students, e.g. lifts and ramps. The needs of the student will be taken into account when considering timetabling arrangements in order to ensure full access to the curriculum is available. The academy employs a healthcare professional.
SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS BUDGET ALLOCATION AND ANALYSIS IN RELATION TO THE DELIVERY OF SEND SUPPORT
With regard to the annual allocated budget as set out in LA documentation and in line with the aims and beliefs of this policy document, the following information outlines the basis on which the academy plans for the delivery of SEN support.
Allocation of Resources to Students with SEN
Each child with an EHC has allocated support time, which is fixed around their personal greatest need. Funding is used to give greatest support to the greatest number, and often goes beyond direct curricular support. This is reviewed termly for its effectiveness, and adjustments made to the TA team supporting any child, or where the support is given if necessary. This is facilitated through an analysis of best value.
Analysis of Best Value
The SENCO and the academy management team use both quantitative and qualitative analysis in the evaluation of SEND provision. The following criteria are used to establish best value:
- Analysis of the varying degrees of progress according to staff records of students on Profile of SEN Support.
- Analysis of annual reading, spelling and diagnostic assessments demonstrate an individual’s
progress.
- Using KS2 data as a benchmark to work against.
- By lesson observation feedback to assess suitability of curriculum materials, delivery and use of support allocated for students with special educational needs.
- Monitoring of SEND provision via a range of proformas to gather information on students, staffing and systems in place
- Evaluate the Impact of Interventions.
- Using TA coaching walks to identify best practice in the Academy.
Future Planning
Future planning on SEND takes place in accordance with:
- Ongoing evaluation of best value
- Annual SEND budget allowances
- Ongoing LA and government directives
IDENTIFICATION, ASSESSMENT, RECORD-KEEPING AND REVIEW
We follow the ‘Assess, Plan, Do, Review’ cycle as recommended in the Code of Practice and highlighted below:
Where a student is identified as having SEN, academies should act to remove barriers to learning and put effective special educational provision in place. This SEN support should take the form of a four-part cycle through which earlier decisions and actions are revisited, refined and revised with a growing understanding of the student’s needs and of what supports the student in making good progress and securing good outcomes. This is known as the graduated approach. It draws on more detailed approaches, more frequent review and more specialist expertise in successive cycles in order to match interventions to the SEN of children and young people.
See Appendix 1 for this process.
Assess
In identifying a child as needing SEN support the class or subject teacher, working with the SENCO, should carry out a clear analysis of the student’s needs. This will draw on the teacher’s assessment and experience of the student, their previous progress and attainment, as well as information from the academy’s core approach to student progress, attainment, and behaviour. It will also draw on other
subject teachers’ assessments where relevant, the individual’s development in comparison to their peers and national data, the views and experience of parents, the student’s own views and, if relevant, advice from external support services. The Academy will consider information on how the student is developing.
This assessment should be reviewed regularly. This will help ensure that support and intervention are matched to need, barriers to learning are identified and overcome, and that a clear picture of the interventions put in place and their effect is developed. For some types of SEN, the way in which a student responds to an intervention can be the most reliable method of developing a more accurate picture of need.
In some cases, outside professionals from health or social services may already be involved with the child. The academy and agencies will liaise. The academy will also seek professional help to inform the assessments. Where professionals are not already working with academy staff the SENCO will contact them if the parents agree.
The assessments may highlight the need for an application for EHC Plan to be put in place.
Plan
Where it is decided to provide a student with SEN support, the parents must be formally notified, although parents should have already been involved in forming the assessment of needs as outlined above. The teacher and the SENCO should agree in consultation with the parent and the student the adjustments, interventions and support to be put in place, as well as the expected impact on progress, development or behaviour, along with a clear date for review.
All teachers and support staff who work with the student should be made aware of their needs, the outcomes sought, the support provided and any teaching strategies or approaches that are required. This will also be recorded within Pupil Passports accessible through Class Charts.
The support and intervention provided should be selected to meet the outcomes identified for the student, evidence of effectiveness based, and will be provided by staff with sufficient skills and knowledge.
Parents will be fully aware of the planned support and interventions and, where appropriate, plans should seek parental involvement to reinforce or contribute to progress at home.
Information about need, the expected outcome of an intervention and progress made must be readily
available to and for discussion with the student’s parents.
Do
The class or subject teacher will normally remain responsible for working with the child on a daily basis. Where the interventions involve group or one-to-one teaching away from the main class or subject teacher, they will still retain responsibility for the student. They should work closely with any teaching assistants or specialist staff involved, to plan and assess the impact of support and interventions and how they can be linked to classroom teaching. The SENCo will support the class or subject teacher in the further assessment of the child’s particular strengths and weaknesses, in problem solving and advising on the effective implementation of support.
Review
The effectiveness of the support and interventions and their impact on the student’s progress will be reviewed in line with the agreed date for the intervention. The impact and quality of the support and interventions will be evaluated, along with the views of the student, via the outcomes which may be in terms of a score differential on some assessments (e.g. after a reading intervention), or on anecdotal evidence for others (e.g. after interventions for anger management).Parents views also should be sought and taken into account.
This will feed back into the analysis of the student’s needs. The class or subject teacher, working with the SENCO, should revise the support in light of the student’s progress and development, deciding
on any changes to the support and outcomes in consultation with the parent and student. Parents should have clear information about the impact of the support and interventions provided, enabling them to be involved in planning next steps.
Where a student has an EHC plan, the local authority must review that plan as a minimum every twelve months. We will lead the review process, and will fully inform the LA of meetings and outcomes.
PROCESS FOR RECORD KEEPING AND REVIEW
On transition into the academy, Primary schools will provide information of those students with any SEN. A file will be opened on that child, held within the Gold records office. For students who later emerge as having SEN, new files will be set up. CPOMs is also used as an additional record keeping system in some instances.
Copies of any relevant documentation of reports will be copied to these files, whether within the academy (e.g. Pupil Passports), from home or from external agencies (e.g. EP report, report from professional working with the child). Copies of any EHC Plan will also be filed in the child’s personal SEN file. These files are available for scrutiny.
On leaving the academy, the file will be forwarded (if going to another secondary school/Academy), or archived.
ACCESS TO THE CURRICULUM
To accommodate students who are designated as having a special educational need or disability, the academy provides:
- Quality first (classroom) teaching designed to meet the needs of every child.
- SENCO, 5 Senior Teaching Assistants and 7 Teaching Assistants provide support enabling appropriate access to the curriculum via in-class, small group and individual support.
- Specialist equipment.
- Individualised timetables to accommodate specific needs (this may include withdrawal from subjects as agreed through formal requests).
- Individual or group interventions including:
- Social Stories
- Real Love Rocks
- Short Fuse
- IDL and Toe by Toe
- Handwriting interventions
The academy aims to include all students with special needs into all the activities of the academy as far as it is appropriate. However, in the best interests of the child, there may be occasions or periods of time when the best solution is withdrawal for special intensive programmes to be taught.
Parents and students will always be involved in discussion when these situations arise and the student’s
welfare will be the major factor considered when decisions are taken.
SENCO
Educational Psychologist
QEST team (Local Authority specialist team)
EVALUATING SUCCESS
SEND Records
The academy SEND records will collate and record the academy’s responses at all stages and information collected at review meetings will be included. An appropriate combination of the following information regarding individual students will be available at the academy for scrutiny at any time:
- Profile of SEN Support
- Description and nature of student’s difficulty
- Pupil Passports
- Annual Review documentation Reports from outside agencies
These will be monitored and will generate actions for further improvement. These actions will themselves be evaluated in the fullness of time for success and value.
Monitoring of Provision
The following information is available within the academy in respect of the effectiveness of the support available for students with identified special educational needs and disabilities. It is gleaned from monitoring and evaluation via observations of:
- Whole class/group teaching
- Small group/individual teaching
- In-class support
- Use of differentiated teaching/resources/specialist equipment
- Practical use of Pupil Passports
- Target setting
- Student progress
The monitoring of this provision will lead to review and adjustment of provided support.
The SENCo will present an overview of the progress of students with SEND, and the work of the Inclusion team to the Senior Leadership group. This will occur in line with the Assessment and Reporting calendar.
Value Added
The notion of ‘value added’ is an important one to Co-op Academy Failsworth and is monitored by student achievements in relation to assessments and results in the following ways:
- Progress against targets and prior attainment including KS2 data
- examinations/tests, both academy based and external
- extra-curricular activities
- work experience success and the destinations at the end of the student’s academy career
This information provides a valuable insight into the progress of students with special educational needs and disabilities.
The Role of the Governors
The governor with responsibility for SEND will provide yearly reports to the whole governing body based on discussions with the SENCo.
The whole governing body has a responsibility to produce an annual report which will state the number of students with special educational needs and disabilities in the academy and comment on the academy’s effectiveness in the implementation of the SEND policy in respect of:
- identification of needs
- notification of parents of a child who is deemed to have special educational needs and disabilities
- assessment of need
- provision for meeting special educational needs and disabilities
- provision of an inclusive environment for all
- methods of monitoring, recording and reporting
- SEND funding and spending
- Deployment of equipment, personnel and resources
- The use made by the academy of the outside agencies and support services
- SEND as an integral part of the academy plan
PARENT PARTNERSHIP
Contact with Parents
Parents are viewed as partners in their child’s education are kept fully informed about this. They will be contacted directly should there be any change in their child’s progress, behaviour or educational provision within the academy. The process for contact with parents in respect of students who have special educational needs will be:
- SENCo will meet with parents to discuss student’s placement at SEN Support level
- Part of the cycle of reviews to take place at scheduled parents’ evenings
- SENCO to initiate additional meetings/reviews to take place where appropriate or where
there may be a concern over the student’s progress
- SENCo and/or Inclusion Manager to meet with parents where a request for formal assessment is to be made.
- In addition to the reviews/parents’ evenings, those parents who have a child with an EHC of special educational need will be invited to termly/annual review meeting.
Further to this, the academy operates an open-academy policy where parents are encouraged to request the opportunity for informal discussion or an organised meeting at any time of their asking. They have the right at any time to access the records relating to their own child and any academy documentation they may feel appropriate.
QUERIES AND COMPLAINTS
Parents and partners with the academy are welcome to query decisions made by the academy through the academy’s designated channels as laid down in the academy’s Complaints Procedure. In essence, this is that:
- In the first place a query/complaint should be directed to the SENCo in writing. This will be dealt with promptly and the parent/carer informed of the outcome.
- Should this fail to resolve the matter, a complaint in writing should be made to the Headteacher.
- A right of appeal to Governors exists should the matter still remain unresolved.
If on pursuing complaints the parents are not wholly satisfied with the response of the academy they may wish to seek further advice/assistance from the LA. If at this point they do not agree with the academy and LA’s decision, they have a right to appeal to the authority’s SEND Tribunal.
IN-SERVICE TRAINING
In-service training is available in respect of SEN for the whole academy, departmental or individual members of staff. The provision of training will be allocated where there is deemed to be a recognized need and will be in accordance with the academy’s Professional Development Policy. It will be delivered by one of the following:
- SENCO
- Individual members of staff within the academy who have a designated specialism
- LA support services
- External consultants/trainers
EXTERNAL AGENCIES/FACILITIES AND SUPPORT SERVICES
The academy works closely with other agencies to focus on the identification and provision for those children who have a special educational need. All services involved with the academy are regarded as being part of a working partnership whose aim is to provide, as highlighted in the Code of Practice, an integrated, high quality, holistic support which focuses on the needs of the child.
The following services/agencies are available to/involved with the academy:
- Child Psychology
- Academy/student support
- Curriculum support
- Sensory and physical impairment
- Emotional and behaviour support
- Education Welfare Service
- Social Services
- Health Services
- Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS)
- Mable Therapy
- Youth Offending Team
- Voluntary organisations
LINKS WITH OTHER SCHOOLS/ACADEMIES
Our partner Primary Schools are a supportive and welcome contact. Liaison takes place via the Deputy Head, Assistant Head, Transition Mentor or the SENCo. An induction programme for Year 6 students coming to Co-op Academy Failsworth operates in order to establish a welcoming environment.
Liaison with schools in our phase takes place via the Primary SENCo; Transition Mentor who are involved in extensive two-way information sharing to ensure adequate information is available regarding any individual student and their particular needs.
Links with Special School(s) are established as part of the academy’s drive towards an inclusive society.
This involves:
- Shared teaching and Learning experiences
- Exchange visits are part of the everyday curriculum programme
- Shared staff expertise
Monitoring and review of the Policy
This Policy will be reviewed annually by the SENCo. The Headteacher will present the Policy to Governors for their renewed acceptance and maintenance.
Policy last reviewed – September 2023
